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Storm 'as powerful as Haiyan' on course to hit Japan

Typhoon Haiyan is pictured in this NOAA satellite handout image. Haiyan, a category-5 super typhoon, tore through the Philippines in November 2013, generating giant waves that swamped coastal communities and left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing.

Vongfong is expected to continue strengthening over the next 24 hours but could lose some steam as it heads north.

"It's safe to say that Vongfong is the strongest storm on earth since Haiyan last year," said storm specialist Michael Lowry for The Weather Channel.

"Normally, typhoons are strongest when they are in the tropics. They start to gradually weaken as they move into the sub-tropical region and the temperate zone," he said.

While there remains some uncertainty over the exact track of the storm, confidence is high that the powerful typhoon will track north towards Japan with the potential for landfall in mainland Japan by early next week, the Huffington Post reported.

It will likely first hit the northern Ryukyu Islands, which could begin to feel Vongfong's impact as early as Saturday.

Typhoon-force wind gusts are expected across the islands from late Saturday night into Sunday, accompanied by torrential downpour.